It is possible this striking panel is a posthumous representation of Gudula van Merle, who died of the plague in 1502. St. Roch, the pilgrim saint invoked against this terrible disease, stands behind her. The shape of the panel suggests it originally was part of the glazing in the familly's private chapel

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Inscription: Scs Rochus Cofessor

Provenance

[ Duveen Brothers, London, Paris and New York (sold 1912)]

References

Caviness, Madeline H., ed. Stained Glass Before 1700 in American Collections: New England and New York (Corpus Vitrearum Checklist I). Studies in the History of Art, Vol. 15. Washington, D.C.: National Art Gallery, 1985. p. 140.